Always love getting detailed responses from devs on comments, so thanks!
I do want to touch on one thing you mentioned in your response though - I don't think showing friendship through humor is a bad idea, and I don't think the humor was ineffective in that capacity either (mileage and personal taste can vary judging by another comment disagreeing with this assessment). However, the more important thing I was trying to get at was developing your characters as individuals as well as part of the collective. I think you got that, but I just didn't want the takeaway to be like, no more banter ever or something.
The rest seems like a good plan of attack going forward though and I hope that all works out for you :)